


been around and found

by summerstorm



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-17
Updated: 2011-01-17
Packaged: 2017-10-14 20:32:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/153190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerstorm/pseuds/summerstorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caroline's never paid attention to moon cycles before, except for, like, that horoscope phase she went through when she was eight, but that didn't really count. There's stuff about it in Tyler's uncle's notebook, this whole chart of like, lunar phases where it was harder for him to control the urge to pick fights and punch things, and Caroline can't make any sense of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	been around and found

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a drabble meme prompt from abvj on LJ.

Caroline's never paid attention to moon cycles before, except for, like, that horoscope phase she went through when she was eight, but that didn't really count. There's stuff about it in Tyler's uncle's notebook, this whole chart of like, lunar phases where it was harder for him to control the urge to pick fights and punch things, and Caroline can't make any sense of it.

"Do you even want to?" Tyler says, looking rattled and kind of like he's actually in that phase his uncle describes as _easily frustrated_. Or somewhere between that and that journal entry where Mason explains in excruciating detail how hard it was to rationalize why snapping some guy's neck was not ideal.

It's so freaking weird. "I really don't," Caroline says. "Don't you think it's kind of creepy?" Tyler gives her a look that seems to say, _Kind of?_ "It's like tracking someone's menstrual cycle. I feel really weird doing this for you."

"Thanks for the brutal honesty," Tyler says. Caroline can't tell if he means it or if he's being sarcastic. Whatever, honesty's totally necessary here. She's way too involved in Tyler's werewolf stuff to just drop it. If something bad ever happens, or Tyler goes off the deep end or something, it's not going to be her fault.

"I'm serious," she says, facing him. "It's not — I'll help. If you think you really need this, I'll help. But you're still — you're still you, okay? And this makes it sound like you're some kind of engine, like the tides or something and it freaks me out that you can just predict someone's moves— _moods_ like that."

"No shit," he says dryly.

"I'm serious."

"So am I," says Tyler, suddenly serious, almost somber, and his eyes are not all the way open and kind of angry and kind of — weird.

She blinks, shaking her head, and looks away, back at the notebook on the coffee table. On a whim, she leans forward and closes it, and doesn't straighten up immediately. She laces her fingers together between her knees, forearms on her thighs, and stares at her thumbs for a few moments before turning to Tyler.

"Let's just drop it," he says, and shows her out. She hasn't been outside for longer than five seconds when she hears something shatter inside. Something glass and big and before she knows it, she's made her way back into his house, following the sound.

She doesn't know if she's distracted or _what_ , but she doesn't see him coming until she's pinned to the wall and he has a hand on her neck.

They stare at each other for a second. His face is blank, not detached but like he doesn't know how to react to this. Caroline tries really hard to stay silent; she doesn't think the _What is wrong with you?_ that's going through her mind right now will do either of them any good.

"Shit. I'm sorry," he says, which is — Caroline's pretty sure that's the first time he's apologized to her. He lets go of her a second later, like a delayed reaction, like he needed that second to be able to move his hand even though he meant to do it when he started to say he was sorry. She can see the tension in his wrist, in his entire arm, the veins on his neck, the hardness of his jaw.

"Hey." Tyler doesn't handle overt concern very well, so she keeps her voice even, careful, just sharp enough to let him know she's still here. He's looking at her, but it doesn't seem like he's really seeing her. "Hey," she says again, firmer. She touches her palm to the juncture of his neck and jawline, under his ear. He's so _tense_ ; it's even more striking when she can feel it on her fingers.

He breathes in hard and sudden, mouth opening, jaw relaxing as he blinks and his eyes finally seem to focus on her.

"Hey, that's good," Caroline says.

"Maybe we should go back to those charts," he grits out, shutting his eyes.

Caroline shakes her head. It's not a _no_ ; they can still do that. They have time to do that. They just don't have time to do it right now, and he needs to handle this outburst first. "You can control it. Look at me." She thumbs out semicircles over his cheekbone until he opens his eyes. "Look at me," she repeats, because he needs the push to actually face her, and then he does, mirroring her touch with a hand on her neck, dragging back until he's cupping the back of her head.

And then he kisses her.

It's — okay, it's better than a rage blackout. It's not even a violent kiss. Their teeth clack at first, a couple of times, but Caroline barely feels it. It's human pain; it's barely there. And then it's just a kiss, like so many other kisses, only it's weird because it's _Tyler_ , and she hadn't really thought — she's never thought about him like this. It's _Tyler_. It's stuck on repeat in her head: it's Tyler, it's Tyler, what is she doing kissing Tyler?

She cares about that, on some rational level, but her body doesn't. He's warm and she was actually kind of scared for him for a minute there. This isn't scary at all. Well, not in a supernatural, uncontrollable way. This is a boy kissing her. She can deal with a boy kissing her.

It's also — it's also Matt's best friend kissing her.

She pulls back slowly, trying not to be too abrupt. She gives him enough time to bite her lip, apparently, but he gets the message soon enough and his hand vanishes. He's breathing more normally than he was before, too.

"I'm sorry," he says again, and this time Caroline's pretty sure it's a lie, but she doesn't care. He doesn't look like he's on the verge of murdering someone anymore. That's the important part.

When she says, "It's fine," it feels so unnecessary to her it comes out as a rushed mumble. Her voice is even when she speaks again. "Maybe Mason had something for — for this kind of thing. Like some kind of drug-type... thing?"

"Probably worth checking out," Tyler says, straightening up, and she nods because that's the Tyler she's used to, overly casual and nonchalant and sweeping the fact that he just kissed her under the rug like he thinks he's fooling her with the whole blasé act.

Maybe it's a horrible thing to think, but she likes this Tyler. This is the Tyler she _knows_ and frequently wants to slap, and when Tyler acts like that, like _himself_ , Caroline feels a little less like she's losing him to the werewolf curse.

"If it involves wolfsbane, I'm not letting you take it," Caroline says as she follows him.

"If it involves wolfsbane, I'm not taking it," Tyler says. "I'm not that hard up for self-control."

Hearing him say that startles a laugh out of her. It makes no sense, it's not amusing, but she lets herself smile for a while anyway.


End file.
